More Indians cross over from Iran to Armenia and Azerbaijan as airspace remains shut

MOre than 50 amerind nationals feature crossed from islamic republic of iran to neighbouring republic of armenia and azerbajdzhan, taking the total number of people who travelled through land border crossings in recent days to more than 700, the external affairs ministry said on Tuesday.The Indian embassy in Tehran has been helping Indian nationals, most of them students and pilgrims, to cross over to Armenia and Azerbaijan through land borders because Iranian airspace remains closed. There were about 9,000 Indians in Iran when Israel and the US launched military strikes on February 28, triggering the conflict.Follow latest updates on US-Iran conflictAmong the 550 Indians who entered Armenia in recent days were 284 pilgrims, and 130 of them returned to India on Tuesday, external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a media briefing.“We have 50 more Indian nationals who have crossed over to Armenia, and a few more [who have crossed over] in addition to Azerbaijan,” Jaiswal said.Rajesh Kumar Sinha, special secretary in the shipping ministry, told the briefing that 161 Indian seafarers had been repatriated from West Asia since Monday. He added that 611 Indian seafarers on 22 merchant vessels located to the west of the Strait of Hormuz were safe.Jaiswal also said that external affairs minister S Jaishankar had discussed the situation in West Asia with several of his counterparts from European Union (EU) member states during his visit to Brussels this week to attend a meeting of the EU’s Foreign Affairs Council.Also Read: PM Modi speaks to UAE President, stresses on safe navigation through Strait of Hormuz“Apart from discussing India-EU ties, he and other foreign ministers of the various countries of the EU discussed global challenges [and] the effect on energy security. The ministers also underlined the need for dialogue and diplomacy to bring an early end to this particular conflict,” he said.Aseem Mahajan, additional secretary (Gulf) in the external affairs ministry, said that the airspace of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had been reopened after being temporarily closed early on Tuesday morning. “Airlines continue to operate limited, non-scheduled flights based on operational and safety considerations and around 70 flights are expected to operate from various airports in the UAE to destinations in India,” he said.Flights are also operating from various airports in Saudi Arabia to different destinations in India, while Qatar Airways operated three flights to India on both Monday and Tuesday. The airspace of Kuwait, Bahrain and Iraq remains closed and Indian missions in the region are facilitating the transit of Indian nationals from these three countries through Saudi Arabia, he said.